HELP! Newb kegging Emergency!!

Alright, I set-up my kegerator this afternoon and everything seemed fine. The kegs I'm using have been pressure tested and were good when I bought them. I racked beer into one of them and set at 30 psi b/c I wanted my beer carbed faster. Anyways, I have my Co2 tank/ regulator inside of the fridge with the kegs. It doesn't seem to be leaking when I spray soap water on it, but it is kind of hard to tell. My gauge that measures how much gas is in the tank is almost at the need to refill level.

The Co2 tank feels heavy still. I'm not sure what I should do. When I filled my tank up yesterday, the guy at my LHBS said he was able to get all 5lbs in it. How much should a 5 lb tank weigh with out gas?

Any advice would be great.

Thanks,
Jacob

The tare weight of the tank is stamped on the tank. When the tank is in the kegerator it will show a lot less on the high pressure gauge due to the temperature change to the CO2. As I recall a 5lb aluminum tank weights approx 7+ pounds. If you are leaking don't forget to spray down all the fittings and the corny posts & lid.

samc said:

The tare weight of the tank is stamped on the tank. When the tank is in the kegerator it will show a lot less on the high pressure gauge due to the temperature change to the CO2. As I recall a 5lb aluminum tank weights approx 7+ pounds. If you are leaking don't forget to spray down all the fittings and the corny posts & lid.

Click to expand...

I see really tiny bubles coming out from the lid, but so small I can't even tell if it's a leak! Now when I first turn pressure on, I get a lot of air out of the lid, but after that, not much if any (is that normal?) I just realized that I didn't put a little plastic nut/washer thingy (you know that fits perfect in the groove in the regulator) in between the regulator and the C02 tank. I found my tank is 6.7 lbs and I was getting about 11 lb's on my ****ty scale (don't even know if it's reliable...it's probably not.) So, I just tightened the crap out of the regulator to tank nut and checked for about the hundrenth time if there were any leaks.

Idk man what would you do if you were me? I'm a little buzzed and probably being paranoid. I'm sure that I've wasted a lot of gas considering I had to learn how to use all this crap today.

Do you use a 5lb tank? If so, do you keep it in the refridgerator? If you do, what does your high pressure register when it's in there.

Also, I must add that the glass on my high pressure regulator is cracked. Do you think that has anything to do with it?

I honestly don't know what you are asking. You have not really said anything that is a problem. The high pressure gauge will show at that level when it is in the fridge. No problem there. Setting at 30 psi is no problem as long as you don't leave it there for more than 24 hours.

The bubbles coming from the lid is a problem is it is indeed a co2 leak. Fix that.

Does beer flow? What is thing doing that it is not supposed to or what is it not doing that it is supposed to. What are you trying to fix. The high pressure gauge reads what it reads. When it reads zero refill it.

Honestly I think you are trying to fix a non existent problem.

dontman said:

I honestly don't know what you are asking. You have not really said anything that is a problem. The high pressure gauge will show at that level when it is in the fridge. No problem there. Setting at 30 psi is no problem as long as you don't leave it there for more than 24 hours.

The bubbles coming from the lid is a problem is it is indeed a co2 leak. Fix that.

Does beer flow? What is thing doing that it is not supposed to or what is it not doing that it is supposed to. What are you trying to fix. The high pressure gauge reads what it reads. When it reads zero refill it.

Honestly I think you are trying to fix a non existent problem.

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I have no doubt that I might be acting a little paranoid just b/c that's how I get when I start a new project.

You're saying the tiny little bubbles I may or may not see when I initially pressurize my keg is a leak or are you saying that the little bubbles I think I see after the keg is already pressurized is a leak? I've tried multiple times to take the lid off and re-position it so there is no leak, but I don't think it even changes anything. I have even tried it faced one way vs another way. How would you fix a lid leak?

ALso, you're saying that the high pressure gauge will always read low when it's at those temps? If so, I wasnt aware of that. lol. Me=Newb.

I did the shake carb method at 30 psi until I got the carbonation that I wanted and now I have it down at serving pressure (12 psi.)

Are the lid Orings new? Even if they are, a little coating of lube on it will work wonders.

OK. You shouldn't see bubbles actively coming out of the lid once it's properly sealed. If you have some StarSan, put some in a spay bottle and spray it around the lid and posts and check for bubbling. If you don't have StarSan use soapy water. If there's a spot that continues to bubble up then you've got a leak.

With reagrds to the gauge, as others have mentioned it's normal for it to drop when cold. Mine will immediately drop to the redline once it cools to fridge temp and will not budge from that reading until about 36 seconds before it drops to zero. It's useful to tell me that there's still co2 in there, but useless for providing any significant warning that it's running low. Maybe that's just my gauge though.

BTW, I always keep a spare tank, actually two spare tanks. I'm not taking any chances.

I just got my kegerator a few weeks ago, so I am hardly an expert.

The guy I bought my kegerator from told me to boil the lid for a few minutes to soften the seal and sanatize it.

I let it simmer 1" of water in a sauce pan while the keg is filling. Then take it out with BBQ tongs and clamp in with an oven mit.

Never heard of the boiling advice, not sure I'd want to boil normal orings unless they were the high temp ones. Anyways it sounds like you still have 5lbs of co2 according to your scale. The High Pressure gauge is worthless , especially in the keezer. Mine does the same thing. Unless you are finding a leak dont worry about it. I would however suggest you buy some keg lube. I use it every time I seal my keg up.

jhonda00 said:

I see really tiny bubles coming out from the lid, but so small I can't even tell if it's a leak! Now when I first turn pressure on, I get a lot of air out of the lid, but after that, not much if any (is that normal?) I just realized that I didn't put a little plastic nut/washer thingy (you know that fits perfect in the groove in the regulator) in between the regulator and the C02 tank. I found my tank is 6.7 lbs and I was getting about 11 lb's on my ****ty scale (don't even know if it's reliable...it's probably not.) So, I just tightened the crap out of the regulator to tank nut and checked for about the hundrenth time if there were any leaks.

Idk man what would you do if you were me? I'm a little buzzed and probably being paranoid. I'm sure that I've wasted a lot of gas considering I had to learn how to use all this crap today.

Do you use a 5lb tank? If so, do you keep it in the refridgerator? If you do, what does your high pressure register when it's in there.

Also, I must add that the glass on my high pressure regulator is cracked. Do you think that has anything to do with it?

Click to expand...

See that part in bold? That's a problem, and will cause you to lose gas over time. You need to hit your welding/gas supply joint and tell them you need a CO2 washer or three.

Is your CO2 bottle in the kegerator? If so, expect it to show low pressure. My CO2 read 400-450 PSI in the fridge, even when freshly filled.

jds said:

See that part in bold? That's a problem, and will cause you to lose gas over time. You need to hit your welding/gas supply joint and tell them you need a CO2 washer or three.

Is your CO2 bottle in the kegerator? If so, expect it to show low pressure. My CO2 read 400-450 PSI in the fridge, even when freshly filled.

Click to expand...

I just used teflon tape around the threads and haven't had a problem yet. Is there any reason to use one, or go w/ the if it ain't broke, don't fix it method.

jds said:

See that part in bold? That's a problem, and will cause you to lose gas over time. You need to hit your welding/gas supply joint and tell them you need a CO2 washer or three.

Is your CO2 bottle in the kegerator? If so, expect it to show low pressure. My CO2 read 400-450 PSI in the fridge, even when freshly filled.

Click to expand...

Is the Co2 washer the small plastic washer (not rubber) with grooves cut into it?

golfguy819 said:

I just used teflon tape around the threads and haven't had a problem yet. Is there any reason to use one, or go w/ the if it ain't broke, don't fix it method.

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It is not the threads that seal the reg. to the tank. The coupler just meshes two almost flat pieces of machined metal together. There is supposed to be a rubber washer between the two. If yours isnt leaking, then I would suggest the surfaces mated together pretty well / you got lucky. I am sure the cost of the washer is substantially cheaper than a CO2 refill.

jhonda00 said:

Is the Co2 washer the small plastic washer (not rubber) with grooves cut into it?

Click to expand...

There are atleast 2 different kinds:
One is a nylon washer and the other is a rubber seal.
http://www.kegkits.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PermaSeal&Category_Code=WASH

jhonda00 said:

Is the Co2 washer the small plastic washer (not rubber) with grooves cut into it?

Click to expand...

Yep. They come in nylon, fiber, and the permanent O-ring type. I get fiber washers for about $.20 a pop at the welding supply where I fill my CO2 tank. I replace mine every time I remove the regulator. 20 cents in a washer is a lot cheaper than fifteen bucks in gas.